DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - The James Michener Art Museum in Doylestown dedicated its new Edgar N. Putnam Event Pavilion last night, a key piece of the museum’s ongoing expansion.

The pavilion is named for a longtime museum benefactor and is the second step in a five phase expansion that began three years ago. Museum director Bruce Katsiff calls it an architectural gem with glass walls that provide views of the surrounding landscape.

Katsiff hopes to use the pavilion as a source of income for the museum by renting it out for lectures…concerts and receptions.

“Someone who has their wedding or has an important event or retirement party at a museum then builds a very special relationship with that institution that can go on for a lifetime.”

He says public spaces are critical to museums which he called temples of culture. The museum is expected to get a lot of foot traffic over the next four months hosting a major traveling exhibition of European art from the Uffizi Gallery in Italy.